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Turn to Science News for the latest coverage of biology, astronomy, the physical sciences, behavioral sciences, math and computers, chemistry, and earth science. Since its debut in 1922, the publication has been known for its sharp writing and up-to-date coverage of the latest scientific research. Science News is committed to providing reports on scientific and technical developments that the layman will find interesting and easy to digest.

I've been reading this magazine for 15 years and find it one of the best and most condensed sources of the latest research. This magazine often contains summaries and digests of the major science publications (Nature, Science, etc), so you hear about the latest real science. The editors have consistently demonstrated savvy skill in choice of relevant research, not the sound bite pseudo science published by otherwise reputable sources. (Hydrogen car to save world energy crisis? Give me a break.)

A Feast for Crows: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book IV

It is not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters start to gather, picking over the bones of the dead and fighting for the spoils of the soon-to-be dead. Now in the Seven Kingdoms, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed, while surprising faces, some familiar, others only just appearing, are seen emerging from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenges ahead.

The author doesn't seem to understand the principles of story development. His many vignettes wander in random directions, discuss characters that will never be seen again, and don't move the story forward. You can skip the entire second volume, as nothing whatsoever happens.

Overall, I'm thoroughly unhappy with this series. The author seems to be experiencing some halo effect from Tolkien, which is thoroughly undeserved. Please go re-read Tolkien and skip right past this series.

Fast Food Nation

To a degree both engrossing and alarming, the story of fast food is the story of postwar America. Fast Food Nation is a groundbreaking work of investigation and cultural history that may change the way America thinks about the way it eats.

I had high hopes for this book as a thorough examination of the American dietary habits but was entirely let down as the author expounded on many absurd supositions and implications with little or no evidence. The author wastes pages bemoning the migration of people from farms into cities and the industrial revolution. At one point he implies dirt roads are somehow better than blacktop, and expresses sadness that we drive cars.

If this book was written 150 years ago, it would at least be relevant and timely. The author could have mourned the loss of jobs to industrialization, called for a return to egrarian subsistence farming, and demanded that such scoundrals as Eliah Whitney be tarred and feathered. As it is, the author is just plain out of date and makes absurd inferences that have no relevance whatsoever.

The Notebook

At 31, Noah Calhoun, back in coastal North Carolina after World War II, is haunted by images of the girl he lost more than a decade earlier. At 29, socialite Allie Nelson is about to marry a wealthy lawyer, but she cannot stop thinking about the boy who long ago stole her heart. Thus begins the story of a love so enduring and deep it can turn tragedy into triumph, and may even have the power to create a miracle.

The Professor and the Madman

Part history, part true-crime, and entirely entertaining, listen to the story of how the behemoth Oxford English Dictionary was made. You'll hang on every word as you discover that the dictionary's greatest contributor was also an insane murderer working from the confines of an asylum.

Not very impressed by this work. I had trouble identifying with the author's perspective, which seemed at times old fashioned, at times sexist, at times openly disdainful of Americans. I had to double check the publication date while reading this book to verify that it was written in the 20th century.

The Callahan Chronicals

This omnibus edition contains the trio of books that introduced the world to Mike Callahan, Jake Stonebender, Doc Webster, Mickey Finn, Fast Eddie Costigan, Long-Drink McGonnigle, Ralph Von Wau Wau, and the rest of the regulars of Callahan's Place, in the stories that helped Spider Robinson to win both a John W. Campbell Award and a legion of fans.

One fantastic book. A light but charming read - reminds me of Dickens. The comparison is easy, since some of Dickens works were written in installments, as was this book. Much of Dickens is light, accessible reading, as is this book. Dickens style was to present poignant observations about the life of his characters, very similiar to Spider's style in the bar.

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